This invention relates to a pallet for use in transporting merchandise. In particular but not exclusively, it relates to a pallet which can facilitate the delivery of beverages such as beer and soft drinks.
Beer and soft drinks are commonly transported from distributors to retail establishments such as supermarkets, convenience stores, bars, and restaurants by special-purpose delivery trucks. A delivery truck of this type usually has roll-up doors on the sides of the truck which can be raised to allow the driver to access storage bays inside the truck. The storage bays can be loaded with merchandise at a warehouse with a fork lift. However, merchandise is usually unloaded from the delivery truck by hand. When the driver of such a delivery truck is making deliveries to a retail establishment, he rolls up one or more of the doors of the truck, removes the desired beverages by hand from one or more of the storage bays, and places the beverages on a hand cart. The driver then rolls the loaded hand cart to the appropriate location within the retail establishment where the beverages are to be delivered. Beverages stacked in the storage bays of the delivery truck may be 6 or more feet off the ground, so transferring beverages between the storage bays and a hand cart requires significant physical effort on the part of the driver, which makes the work both tiring and the cause of injuries, such as back injuries. In addition, since the roll-up doors are on the outside of the delivery truck, the driver is frequently exposed to the weather while making a delivery. Thus, conventional beverage delivery trucks impose a significant physical strain on drivers, and work absences by delivery truck drivers due to sickness or injury are a frequent problem and a significant expense for beverage wholesalers and delivery companies which use such delivery trucks.